why would that happen?

11/14/2009 12:20:16 PM

TheDuke had to get home really quick?

11/14/2009 12:22:06 PM

zombie invasion

11/14/2009 12:22:09 PM

who knows, but it was by itself.. bizarre

11/14/2009 12:24:01 PM

perhaps because its an AIRPORT

11/14/2009 12:25:01 PM

but why would a military plane land all by itself at a civilian airport?

11/14/2009 12:26:48 PM

perhaps because its an AIRPORT

11/14/2009 12:27:10 PM

11/14/2009 12:27:44 PM

Touch & go practice.

I think they do this at major airports so they are familiar with the airport in case they ever have to make an emergency landing/in a time of war/whatever.

11/14/2009 12:31:48 PM

lol

IN A TIME OF WHATEVER

11/14/2009 12:33:16 PM

HAS WHATEVER BEEN DECLARED?

WHERE'S MY LOCAL RECRUITER'S OFFICE?

11/14/2009 12:39:39 PM

GET PROMOTED FROM LT. TO ETC.

11/14/2009 12:45:21 PM

IN THESE DAYS OF NEVERMIND

IT'S UP TO US TO MAINTAIN INDIFFERENCE

[Edited on November 14, 2009 at 12:52 PM. Reason : wolfpack football rules]

11/14/2009 12:51:49 PM

Obama finally made up his mind and declared whatever on Iran.

Ahmedinejad's response: Come have some goat curry, or whatever, my negro friend!

11/14/2009 12:54:37 PM

obama retorts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viaTT859Yk0

11/14/2009 12:57:34 PM

ALLS FAIR IN NEVERMIND & WHATEVER

11/14/2009 1:20:27 PM

isnt there an ANG hanger out there? or is just helicopters?

11/14/2009 1:21:46 PM

Quote :

"perhaps because its an AIRPORT"

^ just helicopters

11/14/2009 1:27:33 PM

There is a Navy T-45 Goshawk that stays out at KRDU during the week and is used on training flights on the weekends....you can usually find it parked in the General Aviation area.

11/14/2009 1:39:03 PM

KRDU General Aviation is a cool place to relax and see unusual aircraft land and take off...I have seen this aircraft many times:



And if you do a google search on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comco

Quote :

"Comco is the de facto name of an American airline operating two Boeing 757 aircraft, registrations being N226G and N610G. Both aircraft are painted completely white with the word Comco appearing on the tail. Little is known about the exact nature of their operation, but they are believed to operate on behalf of the United States Department of Defense. Some sources, including the FAA registry, list L-3 Communications (or more specifically L-3 Capital LLC) as the owner of the aircraft.[1][2] In 2003, one of the Comco aircraft was forced to land after being intercepted by aircraft from the Indian Air Force after it had strayed into Indian airspace by mistake on a flight from Karachi to Malé.[3]"

Probing a little further into L-3 Comms:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-3_Communications

Quote :

"L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LLL) is a company that supplies command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C3ISR) systems and products, avionics and ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, space and navigation products. Its customers include the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Government intelligence agencies, aerospace contractors and commercial telecommunications and wireless customers. L-3 is headquartered in New York City."

So you just never know what you will see up at KRDU

11/14/2009 1:45:10 PM

Quote :

"There is a Navy T-45 Goshawk that stays out at KRDU"

I did not know that.

^ It may or may not be a secret squirrel type of operation. Every flight I've had into theater have been on commercial contract aircraft similar to that. L3 currently supplies the simulators used by the Army down here at Rucker.

11/14/2009 1:49:35 PM

what is "K" RDU?

11/14/2009 2:01:29 PM

K is the ICAO designation for any US airport. KRDU, KGSO, KDCA etc.

11/14/2009 2:06:18 PM

There was a flyover at the duke GT game. Pilots came out to midfield at half time.

11/14/2009 3:22:12 PM

Jet Fighter???? Omg, so fucking cool!!!! If only I ever got to see one close up or even get to take a nap in the air intake of one...that'd be cool.

11/14/2009 3:43:35 PM

I too will go with the Zombie threat assessment theory

11/14/2009 3:53:16 PM

We've had them out here at KGSO as well. We had two guys fly in for a weekend and visit family and such. I am just glad their loud asses don't come here regularly.

11/14/2009 3:56:46 PM

^ The Goshawks are pretty loud on takeoff.

Found a couple more pics...from last June....


Pilot Running out to aircraft


Heading towards 23L/5R

For those that might be interested this is the General Aviation Building at KRDU:




It has comfy seating and a great view of aircraft landing & taking off on 23L/5R.

11/14/2009 4:17:16 PM

I <3 that terminal. One of the things I really miss about being a SAHM is hanging out with the kid there, watching the airplanes. Neat info about the Goshawk & Comco - will keep an eye out next time we go.

11/14/2009 6:11:40 PM

There are 4 F/A-18 Hornet Fighter Jets parked here at KRDU General Aviation. They are part of the VMFA-122 "Werewolves" out of MCAS Beaufort. Pics to come later.

11/15/2009 2:51:42 PM

After they lose to the Hurricanes in an hour or so the Minnesota Wild will be stopping through RDU General Aviation on their way out of town. Gonna try to get a few pics.

11/15/2009 3:33:30 PM

I think I saw them on approach yesterday. It was a long way away, but there were definitely 4 fighters in a fairly loose formation over the RDU area.

11/15/2009 3:48:59 PM

Military aircraft of many varieties are pretty common in the GA area of RDU. When I worked at one of the FBOs in college, I saw them pretty regularly. It was def a cool job to see all different types of A/C and people.

11/15/2009 3:53:37 PM

The Hornets just took off. Damn they shook the entire building!

It was cool watching them line up in formation on 23L then boom they were gone...

[Edited on November 15, 2009 at 3:59 PM. Reason : spelling]

11/15/2009 3:57:26 PM

Yeah, they just flew over my house in Cary.

11/15/2009 3:58:06 PM

I mean... you guys know the history of RDU right? Doesn't the military have a standing right to use RDU?

11/15/2009 4:01:05 PM

^ Of course....still it is interesting to see something other than the usual Continental & Southwest birds...but yes any military aircraft can land/take off at KRDU...

11/15/2009 4:06:49 PM

I agree it is interesting... Just surprised it hadn't been mentioned in a thread that was trying to find out why a military jet was landing at RDU.

11/15/2009 4:14:19 PM

Is it faggy looking?

11/15/2009 4:16:53 PM

Some initial pics:







And a pic of RDU CFR 3 which is a 2000 Oshkosh T-1500 4x4 crash truck.


I have a crap ton more photos including pics of the Hornets taking off...just have to get them uploaded....

11/15/2009 4:41:04 PM

that's badass - thanks for posting

11/15/2009 4:42:36 PM

baby hornets, a T-38 and an EA-6B

and military aircraft land at civilian airports all over the country, all the time. training flights, cross countries, whatever. remember when everyone went ape shit that airforce one flew over manhattan and besides scaring people it cost TEH TAXPAYERS 300,000 DOLLARS!! Those same people would shit themselves if they only realized the extent to which military aircraft are up flying around all over the country (to places like KRDU!) just so the pilots stay current.

[Edited on November 15, 2009 at 4:59 PM. Reason : .]

11/15/2009 4:55:04 PM

there is also an army national guard base at KRDU with over 20 Apache AH-64D attack helicopters, 4- Lakota Helicopters, 2- OH-58 Helicopters, and a C-12 Airplane .... I'm about to leave for flight school in march, currently tracket Apache!

11/15/2009 5:43:26 PM

Quote :

"Is it faggy looking?"

Quote :

"?"

Quote :

"?"

[Edited on November 15, 2009 at 7:02 PM. Reason : l]

11/15/2009 7:01:09 PM

At least they didn't crash an F-18 on takeoff this time.

11/16/2009 12:04:09 AM

Quote :

"VMFA-122 "Werewolves" out of MCAS Beaufort"

Those guys were in Iraq with us. They had the hangar right across from ours, and they had "VMFA-122 WEREWOLVES" spelled out on the roof with sandbags. Under cover of darkness, someone (I think it might've been some of our maintainers, haha) changed it to say "VMFA-122 WE'RE GAY".

11/16/2009 12:17:01 AM

^not gonna lie, that's pretty funny

11/16/2009 12:29:04 AM

It's the complete opposite flying into Wichita Falls, TX. The one commercial flight between there and Dallas flys into Sheppard AFB. Weird seeing a prop plane taxiing between F-15 and T-38 training missions.

11/16/2009 12:37:33 AM

http://www.rdu.com/genaviation/genaviation.htm

who wants to hit up crosswinds cafe and look at some jet fighters

i have never seen a jet fighter

11/16/2009 12:39:56 AM

^ really?


That boggles the mind.


Maybe cause I grew up around them.

11/16/2009 12:45:55 AM